UPDATE 4/17/2006: This has been released:
https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/chat/portable_miranda
I've posted a test release of Portable Miranda. Miranda is actually quite portable as it is. (it saves its profiles to its exe directory by default, which is nice) My version really only has a couple differences:
1. Total install size is dropped from 2.70MB to 1.14MB
2. The profiles directory is split out by default and the launcher allows you the same flexibility in placement as with Portable Firefox, Portable Gaim, etc... so you can have your settings in a seperate 'settings' directory by default... or you can drop Portable Miranda into the same directory structure of the Portable Apps Suite -- a PortableApps directory with an Apps and Data directory within -- and have it work there as well (with the miranda EXE in Apps and the profiles within Data).
I'm not definitely releasing this as an app, it was an experiment to see if there was any interest and if the 2 features this adds are useful enough to warrant a release. Really, I was just kinda excited when I got it up and running and wanted to hack around with it a bit. 
Here's the link:
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/portableapps/portable_miranda_0.4.0.2...
So, any thoughts?
Regards,
John
UPDATE: The download issues have been fixed.
Visit the Community page
Join our forums
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Subscribe with RSS
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Mastodon
Follow us on BlueSky
I would be interested, but it seems that the link is broken. It takes me there, but whenever I try a mirror to download it, it says that there was a problem downloading, and to try a different mirror. I did manage to get it working from one of the international mirrors.
-Justin
It seems to be a little hard to use. I still can't find how to disable timestamps, and I'd rather it ask me for a password before signing on, instead of just storing it. Also, it seems to log everything, even though I don't want it to. If I can reconcile these problems, then it would be perfect. It would be great for people with multiple protocols that want to have something smaller that Gaim. It does have a good interface though, and the other things are minor problems, so I would recommend releasing it. For now, I'll just stick with miniaim.
EDIT*- I have found a solution for most of my problems. Mostly thanks to the FAQ on Miranda's website. Also, do you think that plugins will work?
-Justin
Miranda is made for people who like to have complete control over their applications. It's the Linux of messaging systems. You'll end up spending hours just to get it the way you like it, going through not only the settings, but also the plugins and skins available online.
As for the history, everything is stored as event history. If it didn't store this history, you'd get messages, but they wouldn't display. You can use the History Sweeper plugin mentioned as well as going into the "Messaging Log" options and changing the "Load History Events" settings.
Rob Loach [Website] [Projects]
Just out of pure curiosity... I tried it. And it works. Really slowly
But it works. Just be sure to disable logging. And ditching any protocol plugins you don't need would be a good idea, too.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
How do you disable logging?
-Justin
You can't at the moment... which is kinda silly... but you can use the History Sweeper Plugin to auto-clear it.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
It works great. Miranda is now perfect for me. I would recommend that you release PortableMiranda with the History Sweeper plugin with it. Also, release it as soon as possible, this could really be helpful for those with multiple accounts and not much space.
-Justin
I currently use my own configuration of Miranda on a USBDrive and I recommend the inclusion of the Virtual Secure Database Driver.
This will let you
a) set a password to protect your database (I'm not sure how secure this is though)and
b)if you chose to not let the virtualised database 'realize' it will effefctively be like disabling loggin of messages. Ie the messages will not get written to the database on your portable device.
The virtualisation will also protect the read/write life of your device.
Thanks for the note, John. I checked it out and it is nice to add it to the Portable Apps repertoire. I copied over my original profile (.dat file) along with all plugins and images that I used, ran PortableMiranda.exe and it worked just fine. It doesn't really improve Miranda aside from the ability to use the INI file, but it's still a nice thing to have.
On some computers, I've noticed that when running Miranda it asks for some special network binaries. After about an hour's worth of research on the matter, I came to realize that you needed to include libeay32.dll and ssleay32.dll to have it work in those situations. This is really rare though and has only happened to me on one reasonably old computer thus far. If you'd like, I could upload these two files to my server for you.
My Miranda directory is eight megabytes including my profile file and all of my favourite plugins:
I took a look at the NSI file and now am extremely interested in getting into NSIS application development. One of my clients was looking for a simple application and I am now debating to use NSIS instead of plain old C++. If I succeed in making an application portable using the methods you've used with the other application suites, should I just contact you on the matter? I was also thinking of implementing an application that would use a Lua script to make applications portable, but that's on my ever growing todo list so I don't know if I'd ever get around to it.
Rob Loach [Website] [Projects]
NSIS is really easy once you get started. There is heaps of documentation and the offical forum, which I'm a member of
As for contacting John, I wouldn't know.
But if you need any help with NSIS contact me
----
R McCue
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Is the size that I managed to get PoratbleMiranda down to after eliminating all the plugins that I didn't need (which is all but AIM, IRC, and Jabber, which I need for my Google Talk account.), and adding History Sweeper. It works great.
-Justin
I say go for it. I tried it again and I could get used to it. Better than the 19mb trillian i'm using now.
I found a fix for the problems with viewing profiles (You usually get a 404 and have to refresh many times to get them to work in the browser). You can just change the server it connects to(in aim)from toc.oscar.aol.com to aimexpress.oscar.aol.com and the profiles work on the first try. I hopw this is helpful to someone.
-Justin
Is this just another portable IMing service?
-pyoung09259
Portable Apps Own
I suppose so, but it is considerably smaller than Gaim, and it still does multiple protocols. But if you aren't concerned with space, then just go with whatever is easier for you. You can easily eliminate plugins that you don't need, making it even smaller.
-Justin
Miranda is considerably smaller than Gaim but far more geeky to setup and configure. I don't recommend it for non-techies.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
With your package it isn't that hard.
-Justin
Now that Miranda si here, if i get a new Flash drive i have a one stop shop for most of the things i need.
Also I've recomended to all my friends an co-workers to the site, and they have good things to say as well.
So is the consensus that this is enough of an enhancement to warrant a release? Or do folks think Miranda IM by itself is portable enough as-is? (since it is completely portable unmodified)
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I think that you should release it. Your package makes it easier to use and it saves space, always a plus on a USB drive.
-Justin
It is only like 6 MB, that is hardly anything. I don't see a point in releasing it when you can still get it somewhere else.
Portable Apps Own
Release it!
Because it makes this version makes installing it that much easier for non-geeks.
There appears to be more that want it released that not.
-Justin
Hmmm...can't seem to get it to work...In fact, my local install, which I have not accessed in a while does not seem to be funtioning either...any thoughts? Thanks for the release, BTW!
Any details as to what happens when you run it? We can't help you unless we know what the problem is.
Rob Loach [Website] [Projects]
If so, switch toc.oscar.aol.com to aimexpress.oscar.aol.com in the AOL properties. Mine would never connect with toc, either.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
That did it, TY John. And sorry Rob, was a little tired, so I forgot webiquette. Won't happen again.
Sometimes I also find I have to change the IRC port depending on what ports are open on the network I'm on.
Rob Loach [Website] [Projects]
i've been using miranda for quite awhile now and about a month for your package. i am yet to encounter any hitch whatsoever with portable miranda. thanks john.
Hi
I've been using Miranda in a USB stick and it works beautifully. I'm currently using the latest 0.4.3 Alpha Build #49 (RC1) Unicode (found in http://blog.miranda-im.org/2006/03/19/build-49-rc1-released/)
If you decide to make an official release, I would also include the Virtual Database Driver previously mentioned by alephsmith. See:
http://forums.miranda-im.org/showthread.php?t=4426
This reduces writes a *great* deal.
Now, about your ProtableMiranda.exe launcher, it works great when my Miranda database(settings or profile or whatever you want to call it) is in the same level as \miranda folder. That is:
PortableMiranda\mirandaPortableMiranda\settings
However, I can get it to work with the structure mentioned in the readme.txt:
-\ --- Directory with PortableMiranda.exe (PortableApps, for instance)++\Apps\
+++\PortableMiranda\
++++\miranda\
++\Data\
+++\PortableMiranda\
++++\settings\
When setup in the above structure, Miranda prompts to create a new profile every time.
I tried to add a PortableMiranda.ini with the portablemiranda.exe, but this is what happens:
I realised that PortableMiranda.exe modifies mirandaboot.ini by setting the ProfileDir= (in mirandaboot.ini) to the same value as specified in SettingsDirectory= (in PortableMiranda.ini)
Based on the above file structure, the following path should be set in PortableMiranda.ini:
SettingsDirectory=Data\PortableMiranda\settingsHowever, this path will be written to mirandaboot.ini, which is of course wrong because mirandaboot.ini is located in a different directory from PortableMiranda.ini.
The correct path (relative to mirandaboot.ini) would be:
..\..\..\Data\PortableMiranda\settingsIf I set this in PortableMiranda.ini, PortableMiranda.exe will complain that the directory does not exist (since it's trying to find it relative to PortableMiranda.exe).
Anyway, I hope I set myself clear enough for you to get the gist...
The workaround I'm using is setting the following path in mirandaboot.ini:
ProfileDir=..\..\..\Data\PortableMiranda\settingsand running miranda32.exe straightaway (that is, not using your ProtableMiranda.exe launcher).
Apart from checking that the application & settings directories exist and modifying the mirandaboot.ini, does your launcher perform anything else that I'm missing?
Thanks and sorry for a looong post
jordis
Now I'm confused... There are many Instant Messagin software... such as Gaim, Miranda, IM2...etc and I think all doing same... Could someone guide me to the best one of them? I want it portable, supoorting many protocols , and the most important the logging feature.. of course it should be (light), you know that USB FlashDisk is slower than HDD in reading/Writting.. Thx
is the one I use and does all of the above.
----
R McCue
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."